A Belly Full of Art

“Webcomics: What’s Cooking?

Comic artists doing their part

to help the less fortunate.”

Written By: Carlo Jose San Juan, MD

It started out as a quirky idea between a few webcomic aficionados. Then, like many good ideas before it, that moment of quirkiness quickly became an inspiring movement involving many popular comic artists!

That idea is Webcomics: What’s Cooking?, a cookbook which features full-page, food-related comics by over fifty webcomic creators and artists with accompanying recipes to various dishes. The range of included recipes is quite diverse, featuring dishes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks as well as various beverages. This makes it quite likely that you’d find food to fit any taste bud at any time, in any mood!

 That alone already seemed like a great idea. However, what really got everyone involved passionate about it was that this was a not-for-profit project! Proceeds from the cookbook sales are for the benefit of National Food Banks in Canada and the USA.
At the time of this writing, these are the wonderful artists involved in this comic cookbook (in no particular order):

CLICK HERE FOR LIST

Spirited by the notion of not only showcasing their talent but to bring fun recipes to families and help bring hope to the less fortunate as well, these creators have combined thousands of hours of work to make this project a possibility! Furthermore, it features an incredibly diverse array of artistic styles. There is nothing out there quite like it and is a gem of an addition to any comic collection!
 And it’s a great cookbook too!

So “Feed your Family, Feed the World!”  The goal is to have this cookbook available in time for the 2010 holiday season and here is how you can help bring fun and food together in classic comic style and deliver hope to someone in need!

Kick-start Webcomics: What’s Cooking? by visiting the project’s Kickstarter site! Kickstarter is a fund-raising site for creative projects such as this one. An initial amount is needed to begin printing this cookbook and you’ll get not only the cookbook
but additional incentives as well!

Pre-order your copy of Webcomics: What’s Cooking?
as each copy pre-ordered helps bring the project closer to print!
You’ll also get it at a cheaper price.
Spread the word! Tell your co-workers, friends, and family about this great project on Facebook, Twitter, and other
social networking sites!
If you’re a website master, you can add these free-to-use banners on your site and link them to the TGT Website!
So help feed yourself, your family, and someone in need this holiday season… and get a few laughs in the process!
All through this great comic cookbook!

For more details on Webcomics: What’s Cooking?

 please visit this site.

Carlo Jose “Caz” San Juan, MD writes and illustrates the Callous comic strip series and is a contributor to the Webcomics: What’s Cooking? cookbook.

Delicious. Nice going to all the participants of this fine project.

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Jay Piscopo: Art With Pop!

Jay Piscopo

He's a very busy artist.

So, let's get to it.

Meet the Artist - Jay Piscopo

Jay Piscopo is the author and illustrator of The

Undersea Adventures of Capt'n Eli all-ages graphic novel series.

Jay has been making state-of-the-art children's entertainment for nearly 20 years. His passion for using the computer as his canvas led him to develop his unique signature style of

combining 2D characters with 3D backgrounds.

He served as an art director at Tom Snyder Productions, where he led the creative team in the production of educational CD-ROMs, including the award-winning Fizz and Martina Math Adventures and was as an animator on the ABC Saturday morning show Squigglevision.

He was also the co-creator of the internationally distributed comic book series featuring the world's first disabled superheroes,

The Scrap City Pack Rats, which he created in partnership with Goodwill Industries. They published a six issue series which received national media attention for its

 groundbreaking approach and subject matter.

Jay is an engaging presenter with on-camera and radio experience who has conducted hundreds of comics workshops and classroom events teaching drawing and storytelling techniques. He resides in his home town of Portland, Maine.

Contact: jaypiscopo@captneli.com

My primary work is on the Undersea Adventures of Capt'n Eli at

http://www.captneli.com/

there's an 8 page story with Captn Eli coming out in the

Reading with Pictures Anthology

http://readingwithpictures.org/Reading_With_Pictures/Anthology_Creators.html

There are 2 books available and a third coming out later this year--

there is a Sea Ghost one shot coming out as well.

I'm also working on developing a webcomic called

The Last Dominion featuring public domain characters and

an anthology of science fiction comics called Star Police Adventures.

The Last Dominion: The Heroes

The Dominators© Gladius© War Chief© The Giant©

The Purple Zombie© Blue Bird © story Frank Schildiner

Hip Knox©

Captain Commando©

The Smasher©

Free Commander X comic

http://www.captneli.com/xmascmmdr09.php

Facebook gallery

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Art-of-Jay-Piscopo/112769612079000?ref=ts

Sea Ghost on Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/TheSeaGhost?ref=ts

Find out the connection between

The Undersea Adventures of Capt'n Eli and

Capt'n Eli's Soda HERE!

Wow! That's no where close to being all Jay's work.

We'll let you cruise thru the many galleries that you'll find by

checking out his links...but CCU must share this with you

because they're so darn cool. Enjoy and thanks Jay.

Come back soon. 

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REVIEW: "This Little Piggy GETS EVEN!"

It is with great pleasure that your friends at

Comic Creators United
recommend completely the great collection
from Francis Bonnet and his "Suburban Fairy Tales".

"This Little Piggy GETS EVEN!"

Add 100 pages of an outstanding cast and fun
 that never stops along with several sweet story arcs
throw in great writing, art, a rad egg and a Pied Piper
that will make you laugh every time
and you've just read a winner.

It's a slice of the life that we all wanted.
 We join the gang at home and in school as they deal
with their enchanted youth. What could go wrong?

Just ask Little Pig #3...
He's the one running from the wolf.
Look over there it's the Frog Prince. Go on kiss him.
Pinocchio tells it like it is...he has to.

I found that once I started reading this collection
I had to finish it right away.
That's how I felt in my youth reading "Peanuts",
"Family Circus" and the like.
"This Little Piggy GETS EVEN!" brought me back.

Francis in his wisdom has also included
 from his sketchbook a love story.
A frog, a puppet and "Red" work it out in a story 
that's presented to us in its raw state.
It works. As the reader and comic fan
 I thought it was a nice look at the creative process.

The following strips are also in their rough state
 and are not included in this collection.
They are a gift from Francis to all of us.

Don't miss this collection.
Click here for your own copy.
And...
Follow the gang three times a week here.



It was a thrill to be able to review this great book
Francis bonnet has a winner on his hands.
CCU loved it.


 

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THIS LITTLE PIGGY GETS EVEN

BREAKING NEWS

A New Collection From

Francis Bonnet's

"This Little Piggy

GETS EVEN!"

Go Ahead Click Here!!

Official Book Summary:

SUBURBAN FAIRY TALES, the popular web comic by Francis Bonnet, returns in an action-packed, all-new volume!

Featuring a cast of your favorite fairy tale characters thrown into a modern suburban setting, THIS LITTLE PIGGY GETS EVEN continues the adventures of Frog Prince, Pinocchio, Rapunzel, Red Riding Hood and more as they make their way through high school! As an exclusive bonus, this book features an original sketched story arc, which was never published online! Don’t miss a single comic!

Whether you’re young or old, SUBURBAN FAIRY TALES will bring your favorite fables into the 21st century!

My Comments:

My last Suburban Fairy Tales book came out in 2006 and only had 15 months worth of strips in the entire book. The most obvious reason for such a long wait between books is because Suburban Fairy Tales had ended in 2006 and those 15 months worth of strips were all I had. But I can happily say that my newest book, This Little Piggy Gets Even has almost two years worth of strips and it doesn’t end the series. In fact, I’m hoping that in another two years I can have a third Suburban Fairy Tales book out.

So what’s with the name, This Little Piggy Gets Even? Well, the first Suburban Fairy Tales book was titled “Suburban Fairy Tales: The Complete Collection” (it has since been renamed to “A Comic Strip Collection”). The series was meant to end with the first book. But since I brought the series back, the second book needed a title worthy of standing on its own, and calling it “The Complete Collection Volume 2” was not only weak, it was also kind of stupid. This was a re-launch, after all.

“ This Little Piggy Gets Even” just popped into my head after reading a book of nursery rhymes to my daughter. I thought it would be a funny and unique title and I couldn’t think of another book, comic, movie, or cartoon that has ever used that phrase.

 As a point I made sure not to reference that this was a “volume 2” anywhere in the book.

As an added bonus I put in a 12-strip storyline that I never published online. This story is told in sketches taken directly from my sketchbook. It’s the story of Red Riding Hood and how she fell out of love with Frog Prince. What’s unique about this story when compared to my other rejected stories is the fact that even though it didn’t officially make it into the series, repercussions from the ending of this particular arc changed the direction of the strip forever.

In case anyone is wondering, I’ve already thought up a title for my third Suburban Fairy Tales book. The book is still at least two years away, but it’s never too early to get a jump on things, is it?

Be here this WEDNESDAY, July 21st

 for CCU's EXCLUSIVE review of

This Little Piggy Gets Even!

 Catch a sneek peek and our comments...

B.Y.O.B please.

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Watch This Spot

BREAKING NEWS

IT'LL HUFF AND PUFF AND
 BLOW YOU AWAY!!

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Francis Bonnet and his Suburban Fairy Tales SPECIAL EVENT

It's a Crunchy, Made To Malfunction,

Suburban Fairy Tale. It's...

Francis Bonnet

I’ve been working hard at comics for as long as I can remember.

 I’ve always been drawing something, but it wasn’t until 2003

that I started seriously pushing my work and publishing it

 on the web. My first web comic was Crunchy,

which was actually based on a character I created

in high school. I worked on the strip for about four years

(the first year was never published online).

ALL IMAGES CLICK LARGER

After a while, I felt that Crunchy wasn’t really going anywhere.

 I was sick of the main character and found myself writing

 more about the side characters. It wasn’t the same strip anymore,

 so I wanted to try something different. I actually had two ideas

for a new strip pop up in my head around that time.

 The first idea I had would be to put fairy tale characters in a

 modern-day suburban high school. The second idea I had

would be about an inventor and his housekeeping robot.

I decided to go with the fairy tale strip as I thought

it might appeal to more people,

 and thus Suburban Fairy Tales was born.

I worked on Suburban Fairy Tales for about 15 months.

 At around the 10-month mark, that previous idea I had

 about an inventor and his housekeeping robot

was burning a hole in my head. I really wanted to work on it,

 but I’m the kind of person who likes to put all his effort into

 one project at a time. If I was really going to work on that new strip,

 Suburban Fairy Tales would have to end. .. and so it did.

Made To Malfunction was the strip to follow Suburban Fairy Tales.

Instead of just a simple gag strip, it followed longer story arcs mixed

with science fiction and comedy. I worked on the strip for two years.

 During this time I was also sending my work off to the syndicates.

 To my surprise, The Washington Post Writers Group

 showed interest in Suburban Fairy Tales and wanted to see more.

 My dilemma was that I wasn’t working on it anymore.

 So I had to end Made To Malfunction abruptly

(thankfully not in the middle of a story arc)

 and pick up working on Suburban Fairy Tales.

I’m still working in Suburban Fairy Tales to this day.

 It actually felt good to return to this strip as I felt it had ended

prematurely. I’ve been at it for almost 20 consecutive months,

which has now exceeded its original run.

I just recently sent a sample off to the syndicate,

so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

When I’m not cartooning I work as a graphic artist.

 I have a regular job and I also do freelance. Right now,

 one of my freelance jobs is a website called The Ecobabe.

All the Ecobabe illustrations are my artwork.

They were done exclusively using Adobe Illustrator,

 which is different than I do my comic strips.

 My comics are usually always hand-drawn.

Thank you Francis for sharing the interesting

twists and turns your artwork has taken.

CCU is glad you've carved out a place in

 the world of comic strips...three times.

What will you do next?

Come back and show us ASAP. Until then we'll

live our Suburban Fairy Tale along with yours.

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Steve Butler

The Art and Stories of

Steve Butler

I am a pen and ink junkie and creator of Cuckoos Wear Black.

Although having spent most of my life addicted to the joy of ink,

my entry into the world of comics was a late one.

ALL IMAGES CLICK LARGER

Before that, most of my work tended to be single page commentaries

 on whatever caught my mind at the time.

Mostly incomprehensible ideas but I know what I meant.

Waiting for an asteroid.

The inequity of global warming.

Soapbox Schadenfreude

That all changed when I read Strangehaven by Gary Millidge.
A soap opera written in comic format. It just sort of clicked and
triggered all the bells that perhaps, just perhaps,
 the ideas floating around in my head would work.
 And from there Cuckoos Wear Black began to evolve.
 The idea was to create a series of individual dramas
 set in a fictitious English town.
Richard and Julie's story
 is the first in the Cuckoos Wear Black series.

The artwork for Cuckoos Wear Black is traditional
with the exception of the dot tones and lettering
which are added later using Manga Studio.
I guess you can still get zip tones
but I wouldn't trust myself with anything sharp.
 The technique changed slightly during the comics development.
The early pages were primarily brush, which I love,
but the latter pages have tended to all be drawn with
 a Deleter G pen; an awesome pen, although it does
lay down a lot of ink so inky forearms and smudges
are always waiting in the sidelines to grab me.

I'm not saying where the change occurred and hopefully

 it's not obvious.

If anyone is interested, I pencil in reverse on the back

of the Bristol board and then ink on the other side

 using a homemade drawing board

with built-in light box; sounds much grander than it is.

Who paid the ferry man?

Although primarily working in black and white for comic work,

I will often work in colour for other illustration work.

Most of my colour work is undertaken using vector colours.

Alongside the comic illustration, I have also undertaken

a number of illustrations for

presentation and promotional literature...

 and of course, new commissions are always welcome.

Contact me at

http://cuckooswearblack.com/blog/?page_id=183

Follow me on twitter
http://twitter.com/henspace
Facebook of course at
http://www.facebook.com/henspace
Cuckoos Wear Black and links to other stuff over at
 http://cuckooswearblack.com/

And then there is this......

So much great work. Thanks Steve.

We can't get enough of the inking style you've crafted.
We want to see more and will follow the strips progress.

About your "Mostly incomprehensible ideas"...

Please keep 'em coming.

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